On Syria, let's be clear: What we're about to do is go to war

A U.S. Air Force website shows a F-16 prepares for takeoff from an air base in Turkey in 2003. U.S. warplanes may soon be returning to warfare in the Mideast, this time in Syria.

A U.S. Air Force website shows a F-16 prepares for takeoff from an air base in Turkey in 2003. U.S. warplanes may soon be returning to warfare in the Mideast, this time in Syria. (Joseph Thompson / AFP/Getty Images)

So the United States, along with France and Britain and whatever NATO and other allies want to join in are going to strike militarily at Syria. You know: Go get us some “accountability.”

But why can’t we call a spade a spade? When you bomb another country, it’s a war. People are going to get killed. It’s not a video game.

Don’t think so? Well, suppose Mexico decided to take out a few weapons depots in the United States because it didn’t like the way we were treating some of its citizens who had made their way north of the border. Just a little “accountability”? Right.

Make no mistake, then, about Syria: What we’re contemplating is war. And here’s what happens in war: There’s talk about what targets to hit -- arms depots, command-and-control centers and the like. As if it’s just “stuff.” But there will be people in and around this “stuff.” And some of them will die. And the ones who die almost certainly won’t be the ones who ordered the use of those chemical weapons.

And, of course, those U.S. warplanes and U.S. ships that will be used in the attacks contain Americans, and some of them may die.

War is hell? Yeah. Especially when you’re the one doing the dying.

World leaders, on the other hand -- who most certainly won’t be doing the dying -- are seemingly eager to show their “resolve.” But judging just from emails to The Times’ letters to the editor, there’s a healthy amount of skepticism among Americans about this latest Mideast adventure.